MC_Hotdog

Hi, just want to know what people's take is on engine additives (like Slick 50 and others) and gas treatment (like STP).

I have used Prolong on my Prelude ever since I got it. I got a TL recently and I am wondering whether other people have used anything similar in their TL. What's your take on this topic? How about gas treatment. In my past experience, gas treatment have been able to turn off the engine light in the dash that indicates problem with the O2 sensor. What's your take?

MichaelBenz

iTrader: (2)

Honestly...my take is that most of that stuff is a waste of money. I dont doubt the benefits of some of the products....but unneeded in my opionion.

Acuracy

especially on a car thats so new

Travis

xtin

Jiffy Lube put some crap injection cleaner in my Millenia and it completely effed it up. I say stay away

mbwmn

if you feel the need, at least use the real stuff:
BG Products

i wouldn't recommend the 44k top end cleaner until after 15k miles( no need), and then not more often than every 10k (15k interval recommended). i don't know that motor oil additives are needed or desired unless extreme oil change intervals will be observed. there are plenty of good motor oil recommendations to be found here w/ a search...

arseny87

i tried prestone octane boost, and it really does work..both me and my friend in his g35 ran it for a tank and it boosts ur performance because there is more octane = more combustion

Brettg

My company runs its work vans basicly till a repair gets so expensive it does not pay to fix it. That winds up being around 300,000 miles, and they get no additives at all, no injector cleaner, no flush services, nothing but repairs and oil changes.
I am at 100,000 miles now, the the van runs like it did when it was new, so I know a car does not need anything added to perform well at high miles.

5000 mile oil changes using whatever crap sts uses and i dont hve any smoke, no ol use, etc.

Brett

mlionel

Don’t waste your money.

Re octane boost: if your car designed with specific compression ratio, it does not matter if you fill your gas tank with octane boost instead of gas. It would not do any benefit. Use the gas that is recommended by the manual and don’t waste the money.
Your car “increased” performance is in your head.

BASISON

I agree with most of you. Don't waste your money on oil additives. Instead, go with a good synthetic oil like Mobil 1 or Castrol Syntec. As for fuel additives, the only thing I use it Techron everytime I change my oil (about evert 5-6K miles). I have used it religiously on my '98TL along with Valvoline Max Life Synthetic oil (as soon as it got over 75K miles) and have never had a problem.

SouthernBoy

Yep. Increasing the octane by either going to a higher grade of fuel (for and engine designed and tuned (this doesn't mean plugs, people) for 87 octane), or by adding an octane booster will not result in better performance. In fact it will result in lower performance, lower fuel economy, and higher emissions.

Higher octane does not increase power. It slows down, or delays, the onset of detonation. That's what it does. Higher compression engines with more spark advance (in particular initial timing), require higher octane fuel.

mojo risin

do a search on this topic and you will find all you wanted to know about additives. there are some very wise people that have posted here on this topic and have posted the additives they use and why. 'search' is your friend.

arseny87

So what you guys are trying to say is if i put in 89 or 93 it wont matter for gas mileage, etc?

mlionel

It will be a wash.
If your car is designed for 87, then 93 will not do anything to either benefit, or harm. Nothing. Nada. Null.
If your engine is designed for 93 and you fill up with 87, then computer will retard ignition to avoid detonation. As result you loose some power and have to step on gas to compensate, thus decreasing MPG. Since 87 costs less than 93, you will end up with either a wash, or will lose some.

mickey3c

I have seen where slick 50 has increased gas mileage by about a mile or two a gallon but have not used in the the past 2-3 cars I have owned. I did use it in a 91 camry that went 185,000 before I sold it and a 96 maxima. Every 25,000 miles or so I will use some injector cleaner in a full tank of gas.

Use the proper octane fuel, change filters and fluids at reasonable intervals, and you should be ok.

mlionel

I used to have a neighbor that worked for GM lab testing all king of “miracle” additives. She told me that their tests proved that all of them (additives) are waste of money. I have my share of different products tried and had no better MPG, than I had with out them. Of course, my methods were not scientific, just normal use, etc.

Regarding fuel injector’s cleaners: First Tier gasoline suppliers offer in their gasoline (especially 93) enough special detergent to keep your car injectors clean, so you don’t have to use off shelf additives. What you do doesn’t hurt. If you use Shell, Amoco, 66 (do a search to identify First Tier), you don’t need any additives to keep your injectors and other parts effected by fuel clean.

mickey3c

well I noticed better mileage... 2 mpg on avg... on slick 50. Now I would agree that for the most part the octane boost is a waste of money and might have been useful let's say back when they changed over to unleaded fuel and did not have an unleaded premium where the 1967 vintage olds 455 wanted premium and the best you could get was 89 octane. That's about the only time it was useful...

As for GM testing engineers... Well while I respect them, I have wondered why they turn out crap for so many years... I recall my 82 olds cutlass that had a pinging problem that my mechanic said was caused by the EGR Valve and GM said the valve was fine and used an additive to the fuel to help reduce cardon deposits which could have caused this at 35,000 miles!

So even GM has relied on some miracle additive to resolve some performance issues. To me it's a shotgunning troubleshooting technique that did not work..

In the end ... change fluids at regular intervals... You do not have to follow what they recommend. A friend of mine changes dino oil at 7K intervals and has never had a problem with any of his cars. If you do have any issues document it as much as possible since those of you who know cars are not always seen as an expert when you go in for service.

mlionel

Not too many people realize that GM is HUGE, bureaucratic and inert company. With that baggage, this company became non-flexible to the point that many great ideas and engineering solutions simply cannot make to real production. Proven results from one lab may sit for very long time on shelf. Thant is besides the point that a particular lab has no input in car design that you complain about.
As I drive Acura, I obviously voted to spend my $$ with Honda Corp. not to GM, and for obvious reason; same as you mentioned.
GM, or other car manufacturer years back had problems with carbon build-up due to gasoline vs. engine design combination. That was time when emissions were revised and manufacturers made first steps to comply with tighter regulations. Your 82 Cutlass most likely had lousy 2.8V6 engine that leaked oil and was building up carbon faster than was accumulating miles. At that time Japanese started making some engines designed from scratch and without old style inertia built in their design, contrary to American brands. That was the reason that most Japanese made 4 cylinders were (and still are) better than built by big three.

Gunsnroses316

TOP TIER Gasoline Retailers:

QuikTrip
Chevron
Conoco
Phillips
76
Shell
Entec Stations
MFA Oil Company
Kwik Trip/Kwik Star
The Somerset Refinery, Inc.
Chevron-Canada

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

Source?

jpadilla

Only thing I ever thing about using is a bottle of Chevron's Techron. Only used it once and I swear my car goes faster (just kidding, I don't notice anything but I assume it did a little something).

mickey3c

Yea I can agree there... I had the 3.8 in the regular RWD cutlass and not the ciera..

I do know that on horsepower TV they did a dyno test with traditional lubricants and then drained and refilled (a truck if I recall) with synthetic lubricants. They ran the dyno once again and noticed a torque and hp increase from the reduced friction. So... I imagine that it could result and slightly better performance and mileage.

rjheard

I have a 98 GS400 and have averages about 16 mpg with 93 octane and mobil 1. I recently changed to castrol syntec and picked up about 1.5 mpg improvement. I also used the Lucas oil fuel system treatment and now average about 20 mpg for the last three tanks. The only reason I tried the Lucas was their transmission treatment worked wonders for my 97 RL when the transmission started slipping. YMMV.

Bert Kanne

Redline SI-1 is highly recommended by a number of tuner shops; you put some in your gas tank with each fill up. It's a less practical alternative to using a regular fuel injector cleaner about once every time you do an oil change. Fuel injector cleaner does work from personal experience. I would never put anything inside my engine other than oil, preferably Mobil 1.

UnsanePyro

http://www.toptiergas.com/